Guide
How to label vegan PPDS food
Vegan is a recipe claim, not an allergen exemption. List ingredients, emphasise soya, gluten cereals, mustard, sulphites, nuts and other Annex II allergens when present, and do not assume vegan means allergen-free.
Reviewed against official guidance.SourcesNot legal advice.
The short answer
Vegan is a recipe claim, not an allergen exemption. List ingredients, emphasise soya, gluten cereals, mustard, sulphites, nuts and other Annex II allergens when present, and do not assume vegan means allergen-free.
Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance.
How to apply it
Vegan is a recipe claim, not an allergen exemption. List ingredients, emphasise soya, gluten cereals, mustard, sulphites, nuts and other Annex II allergens when present, and do not assume vegan means allergen-free. Emphasise Annex II allergens inside the ingredients list — bold, capitals, colour or underline — as set out in FSA allergen labelling guidance. Walk the product in front of you against the checklist below before you print. The mistake to refuse is: Reformulation changes more than one word — rebuild the list.
- Full ingredients list still required for PPDS
- Emphasise soya, wheat, nuts, mustard as relevant
- Watch vegan mayo, cheese alternatives and egg replacers
- Do not reuse vegetarian labels
Worked example
Worked example for “How to label vegan PPDS food”: take one real SKU you sell this week. Apply the first check — full ingredients list still required for PPDS. Then contrast it with emphasise soya, wheat, nuts, mustard as relevant. Write the name of the food and the full ingredients list from today’s recipe and supplier specs, emphasise every Annex II allergen each time it appears, and only then print. If the pack in your hand does not match that list, it is not ready for sale. (Vegan is a recipe claim, not an allergen exemption.)
Checklist before you print
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Full ingredients list still required for PPDS | For “How to label vegan PPDS food”, “Full ingredients list still required for PPDS” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Emphasise soya, wheat, nuts, mustard as relevant | For “How to label vegan PPDS food”, “Emphasise soya, wheat, nuts, mustard as relevant” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Watch vegan mayo, cheese alternatives and egg replacers | For “How to label vegan PPDS food”, “Watch vegan mayo, cheese alternatives and egg replacers” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
| Do not reuse vegetarian labels | For “How to label vegan PPDS food”, “Do not reuse vegetarian labels” is the check that stops the pack drifting from what you actually sell. |
Copying the dairy brownie label and deleting milk
Reformulation changes more than one word — rebuild the list.
Go deeper
Next: May contain vs contains. Claims vs ingredients. Then paste your ingredients into the free generator and confirm allergens before you print.
Questions
Is vegan mayonnaise allergen-free?
Do I need to say “may contain milk” on vegan food?
Official sources
Everything on this page traces back to these. Where they and we disagree, they are right — tell us and we'll fix it.
- Introduction to allergen labelling for PPDS foodFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Labelling guidance for prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) food productsFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
- Food allergen labelling and information requirements technical guidanceFood Standards Agency / GOV.UK
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